Moderator's Memos

Self Care Is Community Care

As we look to darker days ahead (don’t forget to change your clocks this weekend!), I can feel my body slowing down. If colder, darker weather is challenging for you, know that you are not alone. Be gentle with yourself. Now is the time to rest and go inward. In light of darker days ahead, I thought I would share some self-soothing techniques that I use with my yoga students, and in my personal practice.

Read More

Listening for Questions We Never Thought to Ask

As you hopefully know by now, Cleveland Park Congregational UCC is in the beginning stages of piloting a racial justice audit created by the Central Atlantic Conference. This pilot was created by a team within the CAC to help predominantly white churches grapple with white supremacy and de-centering whiteness in a Christian context.
 
You should receive an e-mail with the individual racial justice audit tomorrow. We hope that as many members

Read More

Last year in the height of the pandemic, many people wondered aloud about an impending apocalypse. Some of the commentary was light-hearted zombie jokes, others sincere concerns about the state of the world. Amidst all the end-of-days rhetoric, an Indigenous Twitter user noted “Something I don’t think occurs to settlers is that Indigenous people already are living in a post-apocalyptic world.”  If you have not considered this statement before, I encourage you to take a slow breath and sit with

Read More

Autumn in DC

Autumn is officially here, and with it, plenty of programming at CPCUCC. Our groups that went on summer break have begun meeting again, and we have several outdoor events planned for the fall.
 
I’ve always loved this time of year- the changing leaves, promise of cooler weather, and pumpkin spice everything. Sometimes I go to Target and stand in the back-to-school section just to remember how it felt to eagerly await a new school year. I’m

Read More

My Bible, My Body, My Choice- My God!

Last week, the Supreme Court upheld a deeply restrictive abortion ban in Texas. In the wake of this decision, some have drawn parallels between Texas and the Taliban. I believe these comparisons, even if well-meaning, miss the mark. Abortion bans in the United States are rooted in Christianity, not Islam. This is an American, Christian moral dilemma. As American Christians, we are called to examine what our faith says on the topic,

Read More